Emission nonuniformity due to profilimetry variation in thermionic cathodes

A model is developed which shows that the micron-scale ridges, introduced by the surface machining of thermionic dispenser cathodes, may lead to significant angular variations in the macroscopic current density on ring-shaped cathodes commonly used in gyrotrons. An account of the local enhancement in the microscopic emission current density on the ridges is considered for a representative physical model, which shows that the angular variation in current may be pronounced and accounted for by variations in ridges as a consequence of large scale profilimetry variations resulting from machining.